Clean Eating Healthy Green Bean Fries

Makes 8 servings
Are you excited?!?! I'm excited :) I'm not a big fan of green beans and they are one of the only veggies my kids won't eat. This never bothered me all that much since they're not really one of the powerhouse veggies.... except they are SUPER cheap here in Florida during the summer. Not only are they usually on sale at the grocery store but you can get huge piles of them for an obscenely low price from local farm stands. Now, if you already like green beans and so do your kids, then this will be just one more (totally awesome) way for you to enjoy them. But for us, it opens up a whole new inexpensive side dish option. The boys call them Dinosaur Fries :)



Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs (I made my breadcrumbs with unfrosted miniwheats and they were AWESOME for this because they grind into really fine crumbs and are very dry so they stick really well)
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour

ONE: Fill a big bowl halfway with water and lots of ice. Set aside.

TWO: In a medium saucepan, combine the green beans and water, cover, and bring to a boil. Cook until the beans are bright green, about 4 minutes. Drain and dump into the bowl of ice water. Set aside.

Cooked, cooled, and drying

THREE: In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and milk. On a plate, mix the bread crumbs and seasonings. Dump the flour into a gallon-sized ziploc bag.

FOUR: Drain the green beans and pat them dry with paper towels. Throw them into the flour bag and toss to coat, shaking off excess flour. Dip the beans into the egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs, coating thoroughly. (I put the breadcrumb mixture into a gallon bag. Then I dip the beans and drop them in one by one, shaking the bag a little each time. Once I have about 8 coated beans in there I pick them out and lay them on the baking sheet. I repeat this until all the beans are coated. This gives them more of a complete coating and makes the process go faster.)

FIVE: Preheat the oven to 375. Spray a large cookie sheet with olive oil spray and lay the beans on it so that they aren't touching. Bake for 25 minutes.

Freeze leftovers using the flash freeze method and reheat in the oven or toaster oven.

Theron grabbed a Green Bean Fry and ran....

...Right over to Colwynn who was hiding around the corner
eating a stolen Salmon Patty. This is his "innocent" face.
It might work on Daddy but Mommy knows better :)
Colwynn on the other hand is too busy inhaling his
salmon patty to bother trying to look innocent. LOL

NUTRITION INFO:

Per Serving - 172 Calories (17 Calories from Fat), 2g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 375mg Sodium, 28g Total Carbohydrates, 5g Dietary Fiber, 6g Sugars, 7g Protein, 9% DV Vitamin A, 15% DV Vitamin C, 14% DV Calcium, 13% DV Iron